Categories
Horror Short Stories

Mors Ex Machina

The grim reaper has been outdated for hundreds of years. Sure, people still die, but it’s automated now. You’ve enjoyed eternal retirement, but one day you’re told that the machine has been sabotaged. It might be time for death to get old school.

The first person was a middle-aged woman who was now in her late thirties. She had a dark red eye patch, and a scar on her upper right thigh from an elbow injury the machines had inflicted. Her shirt was torn open and open again. Death would have taken her long ago were it not for her efforts to disable the machinery of Death. She’d gone into the room and removed some equipment, and she’d gone back into hiding when she heard the scream of the machine.

Photo by Pavlofox on Pixabay

She had been too late, however. The machine had been hacked away the moment she’d stepped foot inside the room. It had begun to scream, and the screams and screams of people nearby were coming in from all directions; they were all deafened in their ears by the noise. They were all now screaming at each other, in horror, in confusion. The machines were no longer the problem. They were a mere secondary concern.

The second person was younger and darker, and was still a bit of a wizened old woman. She had a short silver-brown hair pulled into a loose bun at her shoulders, and the edges of her eye patch were missing. She was dressed in the same pale green clothing as her counterpart, and had a similar eye patch. Her skin was still a little pale, but most of what came down her back had not been removed. Her face was still a few shades too pale, the corners of her eyes still puckered. The edges of her mouth had been cut off.

She had looked as if she had come out from some deep dark space in time that was not this place. There had been a hint of a certain menace behind the grim reaper, a sense that she was the one who had done this, and the screams of those around her echoed this sense of dread. She had not noticed this, and so it was not until the screams stopped that she realized that the scream hadn’t come from a dead person. She had broken Death, and now she was back to summon the Reaper to fix it.

She had no intention of coming out of this alive, though. She would take her own life with her. There would be no more screaming, and nobody could hear her if she did, and she had no need for the Reaper anyway. But now that she’d entered the room, she felt nothing but fear. It seemed the whole purpose of the chamber was to make her afraid, and that made her a little dizzy. The machine screamed and shook, and as the screaming died down it seemed to become less frantic. The scream seemed to go on for longer and it was possible she was going to die before the machine was able to reboot.

The third person stood out like a sore thumb. She looked like you wouldn’t believe this, but this person had not been able to escape the deathtrap. It was still dark within the room, but it was now dimmer and more focused. She seemed to have lost her sense of colour, and the blood of the machine was a dull brown. She was dressed in a white jacket, and white trousers. Some of them were torn, and the fabric had been ripped through.

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pixabay

It took a moment for them to realize that they were all the same person, and they were Death. They knew what they had to do to restore the machine.

There was no time to regret. The machine would restart soon enough.

Categories
Horror Short Stories

The Sea Is a Place of Death

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.

The world looks like it might be sinking into despair.
The ocean has become as black as black holes.

A young couple are walking on an endless sea without water, as the ocean waves up and down their shoulders and backs.

The water is as black as death,
as the sea has been as black as darkness.

The young girl has a smile on her face,
and the boy has a smile on his face,
as they look out over the ocean.

They see a world in a nightmare,
that is as black as death.

“You should be afraid!
You should be afraid!
You should be afraid!
You should be afraid!”

The young girl smiles,
and the boy looks back.

In this world, the sea is a place of death,
as the ocean and the sky is death,
as death is an evil being.

As the sea grows more and more evil,
the world grows more and more evil.

“You’re not scared!
You’re not afraid!
You’re not afraid!”

The boy is scared.
The girl is not scared.
They are both afraid.
They are both scared.
They are both scared.

The world is dying,
the ocean is dying,
the sky is dying,
the sea is dying.

It is a nightmare, a nightmare,
as the sea grows more and more evil,
as death grows more and more evil,
as the world grows more and more evil,
as the sky grows more and more evil.

“We should be afraid of the sky,
of the sun,
of the moon,
of the rain,
of the wind
of the sea!”

Honorable Mention #1

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.  They leave their family and possessions behind and embark on a journey across the Pacific, hoping to find a way home.

What if this were the only way out? Would this be worth it to them, to the world? The story begins with the narrator, a young boy named Toshiya, who is orphaned and raised by his family, who has no friends, no family or family’s love, just his mother, father and himself. His childhood is filled with tragedy and isolation, the constant threat of being taken away from his family, and being forced to live alone in a small, small world.

As the story unfolds, the characters are torn from the family and put into a life of desperation, trying to survive on their own or to find ways to save their loved ones from disaster. They struggle, and fall into deep despair.

What is it about the Pacific that makes people desperate and driven into the sea? The answer can only be found in the fact that we all have a connection with sea water that permeates us. The water is our connection to a place. The water is also our connection to ourselves, to the world around us. The water is our connection to what it’s like to be alone on these islands and to a place that is always there, never there. Sea water is an anchor in our minds when we look at the earth from space.

In the story, the narrator must navigate through the sea in order to survive, and the journey is not easy. In a sea of people who have no idea of where they are going, the story is filled with many choices to make, and it is not always easy.

The story of this film is an exploration of what it takes to survive, and to be able to survive, in a world that seems to be dying, and that is filled with death. It is a story about the human condition, about the nature of the human condition, and how we can all be saved

Honorable Mention #2

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.  They land on the beach and decide to stay for a month at the mercy of the waves. They are joined by a young girl, with a strong belief in their abilities. The islanders decide to call it home and the crew begins to build a settlement on the shore of the sea.  A small island is quickly built, surrounded by buildings and roads which lead to another small island. The islanders build their own houses, and a village to their west which is now populated by a new population of zombies.

After a while, the residents of the small village come to their senses enough to decide to make a move on the small island. They build a fort on the beach, and build a boat with a wooden roof. They decide to build a fort of their own.  A man and his daughter decide to go to the beach to watch over the fort.  After a while, the two decide to go back to their village.  After all, the two have been living on the beach for 100 years.

The two families live on the small island, with their two children and their wives living in the village.  There is only one house on the island, which they decide to live in as a family, but their family has grown in size.  The house is a large, modern house with a kitchen, living quarters, and storage area. They decide to move to the house in the middle of the jungle.

The family starts to grow in size, until the family is almost too large to fit into the jungle.  One of the men goes out and finds another woman.  She is pregnant with their second child.  She goes to see him and tells him about her pregnancy, and that she is pregnant with her first child too.  He decides to take the baby to the hospital, and the two parents agree to take the baby and the woman to live with him. The two parents decide to

Rejected Run #1

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land. ___________________________________________________________

The crew: 1-4

Characters: 5-8

Narrative: 9-13

Rating: A+

The characters are very well done and the setting is fascinating. The story starts at the beginning of the world when you are very young and is told from the perspective of the main character (a girl) and her family, who live in the island where you are. The world and the world around them are very different from those of the mainland. The sea around this islands are covered with sand. The land is rocky and barren. The island of Serenia has a lot of wildlife. In the center of the island one can find a town called “Cairo”. The village has a big lighthouse and a large lake. The main character, Katerina, has been given a strange gift: a boat that lets her explore the entire world. It is very dangerous and requires the help of a young sailor named “Nosferatu”. She needs to find out the story of a woman, Katerina, who has lived in the town for some years. The story is told mainly in flashback, in which it is possible to observe a little about the history of this island. The main character is very good at telling a lot of story. The story has many twists but there is no sense of closure. There is a lot of action, a lot of action scenes. The characters are very good and the action scenes are quite memorable. This series is very enjoyable and it has some really great characters. The writing is not very good. The narration is very poor. The characters are very well done. There is a little bit of romance but the story was very boring for my taste. It was a little too easy to be immersed in the story, and I did not feel any real connection with the characters, who are very well done. Overall, I would say that this is a very good read for people who enjoy stories about people who are in danger.

Rejected Run #2

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.  But the ship has been lost in the middle of the ocean. 

The story starts off with a boy named Harry being told by his Uncle, a former pirate captain from a long time ago, that their ship was captured by the undead. This tells us the origin of the pirate crew that went to a certain island and made their way up to this island. 

We are told of the crew who are called the “Sea God” and are known as the “Doom Kings”. They are said to inhabit the deep ocean. It is said if they go to the island that the people of the island are afraid of them. The island is said to be very mysterious and dark as well as being where the soul of a deceased person lives. We are also shown that the island has no living members. This is a clue that something is going on in the sea. But why would the dead people of this island disappear? We learn that they have been driven into this dark abyss and now they must escape from it.

There are some great scenes with the main characters, Harry and his friends as they attempt to escape the island. There are many scenes that have some amazing special effects. The crew goes on an adventure and they get their first glimpse of a mysterious dark sea that is the sea of the dead. And then Harry, his friends, the crew and the ghostly ship all get together and attempt to make it to shore. We are told that the boat they are on has been sunk but they have found a way up to this island and that is the beginning to the story.

The story is not as much fun as it is scary. The first few scenes are just as much as you expect, there are zombies, skeletons, zombies and skeletons. The story is not very well written. It starts to feel like a horror movie. The story starts off with a lot of action, and then it gets very dark and disturbing. 

Overall, this is an

Rejected Run #3

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land. ~~(Drawn by the Eye of Agamotto, by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart) “You are no stranger. You may have fought on my side. Maybe you have fought for humanity. Maybe you have fought against the undead and I have not seen you. But I’ve seen you before. When I look into the eyes of the dead, you will not leave. I have never seen more of you.” ~The Last Witch of Iz, to an unnamed vampire that died before the battle (Drawn by Dave Stewart) ~~(Drawn by David Stewart) “The Witch of Iz is back again! He’s back! He’s back again! Now that we all have the power of the Eye of Agamotto, he’ll come to kill our enemies and then he’ll return in a new form of flesh! And then what happens? You die of a heart attack and he kills you!” ~The Last Witch of Iz, to the witch that killed her family and her husband (Drawn by David Stewart) ~~(Drawn by Dave Stewart) And now it’s your turn! The Last Witch of Iz has given us a glimpse into the fate of humanity. The witch has given us a taste of death as we stand before the final door of our own future, but there is another door open to our future. The last witch of Iz has been summoned by the Lord to destroy mankind from within as we stand before that final exit. And you are the chosen one… The Last Witch of Iz has been granted the power to destroy humanity as we stand before the final door of our own future. You, the one who will save the world. But there is more than death in store for you, the Chosen One. The last Witch of Iz has given us a glimpse into the fate of humanity. There is another door open to the future. The witch has given us a taste of death as we stand before that final door. But what awaits us

Rejected Run #4

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.  This is the story of a girl whose life is thrown into disarray when she joins a band of survivors after her husband has been killed.

Tiny and young, Tiny is a girl who believes she has always had the power to change the world…and she’s not the only one. She and her friends are determined to save a beautiful girl who wants to become…a warrior.

When I wrote the first book I was really nervous about the book. I’d heard so much about how to write a romance and I was nervous to do any of my own, because writing a romance is so different. I knew a lot of other writers had been through this before and had done it well, but I had never been able to tell a romance story. I wanted to tell a story that was simple, and yet I knew I needed the support and inspiration to push myself and the characters to their limits. So I wrote the first story about 10 years after the first one, and when the book came out, it sold out instantly. That’s when I realized that I could make this work, that I wasn’t just going to write the book of my dreams, I was going to do it. I started writing, and the book went on to sell out immediately, and I was able to get the second book out the same year.

I’m very proud of the writing on Tiny. It’s very different than most romance stories and I feel like it was a good choice to make it different. I’m proud of how the characters are developed. The characters are so realistic I can’t imagine them being anything else.

I’m proud of the writing on Tiny. I’m proud of the characters. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The writing is very realistic. The

Rejected Run #5

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

(A) Aboard the boat: _________ ______________

(B) The captain: _________

The crew: _________ ____________

The boatman: _________

A man who knows the sea best: _________ _____________

(C) The captain (from left to right): ___________________________________________________________

The ship: ___________

A sea creature: ___________________________

A sea monster who knows how to talk: ___________________________ _________________________ __________________________________________

This game has no special graphics, except for the character sprites. I have included two different versions of each of the characters, the player character and the ship’s captain. I’ve placed them in the same folder as the text files, because that’s what I think most people are going to want to use for their own games. If you prefer, I can also include the player’s name in each file, because the letters are pretty self-explanatory. I have not tried to include an alternate ship or crew name, because the names in these files are not very good. I hope this helps you find the right names for your game. The game is based on a simple, 2D adventure game called The Last Man On Earth. The first thing you need to do is create a blank file, called “game.txt”. I have put it in an empty folder, because I have not tested the game with any other files yet, and the game should run fine without any files. If the file contains any files, it will be copied to the game directory. You can save your game and then load it up, and it will work. If you are playing on a computer or tablet and you want to make the game playable on the other devices, you’ll need to make sure that you are using the correct version of Adobe Flash Player, and also that you use the proper graphics drivers.

Rejected Run #6

Humanity has been driven into the sea by the undead. 100 years later the boats and ships are sinking more each year. One family makes the desperate choice to land.  One by one they make their way to shore, only to have the ship sink and kill all on board. The survivors survive and find themselves in a very small island. They soon find themselves with few supplies, with no food, no fire, no water. And it is there they are hunted to extinction by the undead as the world collapses around them.

The plot takes place around 20 years ago. It is an early post apocalyptic setting. The story focuses on the survivors as they find themselves without food, water, and shelter for the entire year. Each individual has to fight for survival. There are no monsters, no evil people, no supernatural forces. Just ordinary people who are faced with very simple problems. They fight to try to find food, shelter, shelter. And for survival they have to rely on their own strength as they fight for every moment in order to survive and make it to shore. It is very simple to follow. There are no major decisions. You simply have to figure out and survive as many days as you can.

The first half of the novel takes place in the fictional island of Agrarian. Agrarian is an island that is in the middle of a very harsh ocean with very little land in the immediate vicinity.

I will start off by saying that the story is very much about the people of Agrarian (as opposed to the supernatural). The story is very much centered around the story of each individual person, their struggles as they attempt to survive. The story does not take you into the afterlife. The characters do not come to an afterlife where they meet up with a god, or have an afterlife where they can talk to God. They have to live through this world in order to try and survive. This makes the story very different from most other post apocalyptic stories.

There is no supernatural element. The world is not overrun by zombies. There are no evil people in the world. There is not a great evil force trying to

Categories
Horror Short Stories

The Lord of War’s Voice

The Final Version

An unspeakable horror from another dimension stepped out of the portal, wisps of gas rising from the pavement where it made contact.  It was late and the street was mostly empty, a solitary man stood nearby at a bus stop, the only witness to what had happened.

A figure stood amidst the growing layer of fog just above the pavement, wearing dark, ragged clothes. Stretched across his face was a thin sheet of gray skin, covered in blood and grubs. His eyes were closed, and he was staring off into space. He spoke in a monotone, but a faint echo could be heard in the quiet surroundings.

A chill ran down the man’s spine. “What are you?”  As if in response to his question, the figure spoke.

“Your presence here. You will soon be gone. It is for the best.”

The air around the figure’s mouth and nostrils shifted, becoming slightly thicker. He spoke, “You will now be free to go wherever you wish, but I wish you would not go alone. My name is The Lord of War’s Voice. I am here to guide you. Your freedom comes with a price.”

“I’m just being a friend. I’m here just as I am right now. I know the Lord of War’s Voice will help you. I only asked you to help me, so you can free others.”

The Lord of War’s Voice laughed in the face of the man’s question. He spoke, “You will have to learn to accept it when it becomes apparent that you must do what is needed.”

“I’m…sorry, sir…I can’t…I don’t understand what I’m doing…” The man began walking away.

“I am here for those who have fallen, for the ones who need us most. The Lord of War’s Voice will help those he deems worthy to receive help. It is for those that need us most and have not yet found a voice.”

“But…I don’t have…a voice.” The man said, tears in his eyes as his thoughts turned into a fog.

“You will. You will be free. I will guide you to the place where you can find your voice. There will be many voices, many ways to speak, and the Lord of War’s Voice will guide you to the right one.”

“But…I…” The man began to fall and a growing light came from the portal.

“You will. You will find your voice. You have already found your voice.” The Lord of War’s Voice said, as his eyes closed again, “I have a name for you. A name, for the man you may be.”

The man began to walk towards the light, and the Lord of War’s Voice spoke to him again, “The man has been identified as the Lord of War’s Voice. You are free to return. I will guide you as you choose.”

He began to walk towards the light once more, only to be halted.

“You do not have a voice,” the Lord of War said, with his head lowered, “You have a mind that cannot comprehend a sound.”

A coldness descended upon the man’s body as he stared at the Lord of War’s voice. He turned, his eyes widening in shock.

The Lord of War’s Voice smiled, and the figure that had been standing in the shadows began to walk away.

The Lord of War looked at the man, who had just vanished from the shadow, and saw that he had become a new being. He was a being of pure white hair. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the Lord of War’s Voice, speaking in a low and deep voice.

“You were not here before. This is the first time I have heard your voice.” The Lord of War spoke, in a calm voice. “I am here to guide you, and to guide you, and to guide you, and to guide you. I am here to guide you. You will be guided to your own voice.”

Thoughts

I was impressed with the quality of this story, and the use of “The Lord of War’s Voice” as a name implies a fairly rich backstory in the universe this takes place. With that name, it was easy to ignore some of the awkward wording and take some of the word choices as threatening instead of out of place. I’ve also realized that I should probably start with a photo next time, as working backwards was a bit more of a challenge than I thought.

The Original Prompt

An unspeakable horror from another dimension stepped out of the portal, wisps of gas rising from the pavement where it made contact.

Unmodified Output

An unspeakable horror from another dimension stepped out of the portal, wisps of gas rising from the pavement where it made contact.

A figure stood amidst the clouds, wearing dark, ragged clothes. The mask was a thin sheet of gray skin stretched across his face, covered in blood and grubs. His eyes were closed, and he was staring off into space. He spoke in a monotone, but a faint echo could be heard in the quiet surroundings.

“What are you?”

A chill ran down the man’s spine. As if in response to his question, the figure spoke.

“Your presence here. You will soon be gone. It is for the best.”

The air around the figure’s mouth and nostrils shifted, becoming slightly thicker. He spoke, “You will now be free to go wherever you wish, but I wish you would not go alone. My name is The Lord of War’s Voice. I am here to guide you. Your freedom comes with a price.”

“I’m just being a friend. I’m here just as I am right now. I know the Lord of War’s voice will help you. I only asked you to help me, so you can free others.”

The Lord of War’s Voice laughed in the face of the man’s question. He spoke, “You will have to learn to accept it when it becomes apparent that you must do what is needed.”

“I’m…sorry, sir…I can’t…I don’t understand what I’m doing…” The man began walking away.

“I am here for those who have fallen, for the ones who need us most. The Lord of War’s Voice will help those he deems worthy to receive help. It is for those that need us most and have not yet found a voice.”

“But…I don’t have…a voice.” The man said, tears in his eyes as his thoughts turned into a fog.

“You will. You will be free. I will guide you to the place where you can find your voice. There will be many voices, many ways to speak, and the Lord of War’s Voice will guide you to the right one.”

“But…I…” The man began to fall.

“You will. You will find your voice. You have already found your voice.” The Lord of War’s Voice said, as his eyes closed again, “I have a name for you. A name, for the man you may be.”

The man began to walk towards the light, and the Lord of War’s Voice spoke to him again, “The man has been identified as the Lord of War’s Voice. You are free to return. I will guide you as you choose.”

He began to walk towards the light once more, only to be halted.

“You do not have a voice,” the Lord of War said, with his head lowered, “You have a mind that cannot comprehend a sound.”

A coldness descended upon the man’s body as he stared at the Lord of War’s voice. He turned, his eyes widening in shock.

The Lord of War’s Voice smiled, and the figure that had been standing in the shadows began to walk away.

The Lord of War looked at the man, who had just vanished from the shadow, and saw that he had become a new being. He was a being of pure white hair. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the Lord of War’s voice, speaking in a low and deep voice.

“You were not here before. This is the first time I have heard your voice.” The Lord of War spoke, in a calm voice. “I am here to guide you, and to guide you, and to guide you, and to guide you. I am here to guide you. You will be guided to your own voice.”

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